


Meeting Antony's parents

by glitteredsins, jennandanica



Series: Citadel: Antony Starr and Stephen Amell [82]
Category: Actor RPF, Arrow (TV 2012) RPF, Banshee (TV) RPF, Citadel (Journalfen RPG), New Zealand Actor RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 13:58:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14106885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteredsins/pseuds/glitteredsins, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennandanica/pseuds/jennandanica





	Meeting Antony's parents

  
**players only. backdated to December 2013, in Wellington, New Zealand, a few days after[the boys talk about Stephen's visit with Dr. Litton](https://antony-starr.dreamwidth.org/9686.html).**

_warnings: none_

"You sure you're ready for this?" Antony asks as he pulls up in front of his parents' house. He grins across at Stephen. "We could pretend the line at the registrar's office was huge and sneak into a hotel for a couple of hours."

So far New Zealand has been a whirlwind. As soon as they'd escaped the airport in the rental Antony had driven them to the registrar's office to file their paperwork, that done Stephen had begged for a coffee stop, only after a large cup of overly sugared caffeine was he ready to face his soon to be in-laws.

"I think your dick can wait," Stephen snorts, leaning forward to look at the house. "No, let's do this, before I throw up."

Antony laughs. "That would make a great meeting the in-laws story," he teases, getting out and grabbing their bags.

"I'm so glad my terror amuses you," Stephen waits until his lover's hands are full before he pokes him in the ribs. He busies himself with draping their suit carriers over his arm and hauling out the last case. They've travelled much heavier than normal, half of their luggage being either wedding or gift related. "Onward you sick sadist," he urges as he slams the trunk shut.

Antony laughs again, shifting the bags so he can open the front gate. "I don't think Brenda and Julie are coming over til later so it should just be my mum and dad," he says, leading the way down the side path to the back of the house which his parents use as the main entrance - for friends and family.

Stephen's not sure that he might not have found it easier to meet them all in one go - but he stays silent and follows his lover down an exceptionally green and beautiful path.

The back doors are open fully to the garden and Antony calls out, "Mum? Dad? We're here."

"Antony! Jack, they're here!" his mum calls, already coming down the steps to greet them. She wraps her arms around Antony and gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and then turns to the gorgeous man standing beside him. "And you must be Stephen. I'm Olivia. It's such a pleasure to finally meet you," she says, giving him a hug and a kiss too.

Stephen smiles, how can he not, Olivia is warm and open in her welcome. "Hi," he hugs her back, amused to note exactly where Antony got his light blue eyes. "It's lovely to meet you too, thank you for having us."

"We're so excited," Olivia tells him, motioning for them to step up onto the deck. "Jack! Get out here!"

In his office on the far side of the house, Jack sighs and closes his laptop. "Coming," he calls back, not quite as thrilled with the whole affair as his wife. He doesn't have anything against gay people. He simply can't understand why his son would choose to go that route when he _has_ the choice. But he's determined to make the best of things and accept his son's lover as part of the family and as the person Antony loves. Coming through the living room, he gives the crowd outside a huge smile and holds out his hand to Stephen. "Hi. I'm Jack. It's good to meet you."

"Jack," Stephen's smile is warm. "Same as my Dad," he offers, taking Antony's dad's hand and giving it a firm shake. "Thank you for having us." He glances over at his lover and back again. "I've been so nervous about meeting you."

"Same here," Jack says, smiling at them both. At least Antony has good taste. Even he can't deny Stephen's one hell of a good-looking guy. As much as he can be the judge of that sort of thing. "I can't even remember the last time Antony brought someone home and now it's to get married."

"My parents said the same," Stephen grins, "Thank god Antony managed to behave himself," he winks at Jack and side steps away out of Antony's immediate reach.

Everyone laughs and Olivia suggests they move things into the house. "I made the back bedroom up for you boys," she says, gesturing for them to follow her through the living room and kitchen, down the hall, past several other doors to a large bedroom with a gorgeous view on the backyard. "There's extra hangers in the closet, the top two drawers are cleared in the dresser and there's towels in the bathroom. Do you want to take a few minutes and unpack?"

"Sure," Antony says, giving Olivia another kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Mum."

"We'll be out back," Jack says. "Scotch or beer?" The question directed to Stephen.

"Beer please, it's a little early for scotch for me," Stephen grins, casting Antony a look - almost as if he's checking that it's okay. "Tony?"

"Tony?" Olivia smiles. "He lets you call him that?" The nickname telling her more than anything else just how much Antony must love Stephen.

Antony ducks his head. "No one else gets to," he says, firmly. "And beer's good." Eyes crinkling as he smiles at Stephen.

Stephen pulls a mock horrified face and leans into Olivia, "Now I'm in trouble, I'm supposed to only call him that in private!" He's teasing of course, because here, in Antony's parents' home is as private and safe as they can be out of their own home.

Olivia laughs. "Uh oh," she says to Stephen then adds, with a mischievous smile aimed at her son, "It could be worse. It could be snookums or pooky bear or something like that. Honey pie."

"Liv," Jack says, but he's laughing and shaking his head.

"You two." Antony points at his parents, trying not to laugh as well. "Out. We'll join you in a few minutes."

Stephen's laughing as Antony shuts the door very firmly on his parents. "Hmm, you see I've been feeling the need for a sweetheart name for you for a while, I really like 'pooky bear'."

"Only if you're going to be snookums," Antony says, casually swatting Stephen on the ass. Christ. His parents.

"I think I'll go with my initial thought of 'darling'," Stephen grins and reaches out to pull Antony into his arms. "My darling man."

"Hey, beautiful," Antony returns, smiling, kissing Stephen.

He loves it when Antony calls him that, and he's smiling as he presses his mouth against his lover's, savouring a kiss that's been waiting since they left home many hours ago.

"Hm." Antony draws back finally, reluctantly. "We'd better unpack quickly before my dick decides it can't wait."

"Your dick is always impatient," Stephen steps back, and lets go, his fingers itching to touch more, to push up the fabric of Antony's top and stroke over his furred belly and chest. "S'one of the reasons I love you," he adds, trying to distract himself with more humour.

"A big one," Antony grins, reaching for his main bag.

"Yes, yes darling, you have a large dick," Stephen rolls his eyes as he picks up the suit carriers and moves them to the wardrobe. "And you're very clever with it," he adds mischievously.

"Just don't tell my parents that," Antony says, moving to the dresser, his things arranged in the second drawer, the top left for Stephen.

"As if," Stephen busies himself in putting his things away and setting the box with his collar on Antony's side of the bed.

"You already told them you call me Tony," Antony teases, glancing at the box, grateful he'd thought to get something that locks. As much as he loves his parents, he doesn't totally trust them - especially his mum - to respect their privacy.

"Yeah sorry about that," Stephen's brow wrinkles in a small frown, he can't recall ever using the pet name around anyone else before and wonders why he slipped now. Tiredness maybe?

"I'm just kidding," Antony says, reaching for Stephen's hand and giving it a kiss. "I don't mind." He nods towards the dresser. "I left a drawer for you."

"Okay," Stephen puts his clothes away, and then sets the last case on the bed. "The gifts are in here, and these," he picks out the box with their wedding rings in. "Here, you have them," Stephen's convinced himself since the moment they picked them up that if he looks after them he'll lose them before the big day.

"I'm going to lock them up in my bag for now," Antony says, doing just that before shoving the bag into the closet. "My parents are great, but my mum has a tendency to 'explore' when she's tidying." And although the engraving's tiny and on in the inside of the rings, the last thing he needs is having to explain words like master and slave to his mum and dad.

"Good job we didn't bring the toys huh?" Stephen watches his lover tuck the box away, he doesn't want to touch them until they actually put the rings on each other.

"Yup. Just belts and ties and boots," Antony says casually, a small smile curving his lips.

"Bastard," Stephen grouses and reaches down to adjust his dick which kicked up at the mention of his Sir's boots. Antony's promised him that he can indulge that kink on their wedding night - it's Stephen's 'crack' - his cast iron go to kink - just the thought of it makes him hard. He lifts his gaze to meet his lover's, lets him see the need there.

Antony can tease all he wants to, but it takes next to nothing for Stephen to flip it back on him. "Our beer's going to be getting warm," he says, eyes still locked on Stephen, hands itching to grab him, push him down... Fuck.

A flush washes up Stephen's throat, colours his cheeks and he swallows hard. "Later?" And if there's a hint of pleading in that one word, he'll not deny it. His need for Antony is never far from the surface.

"Later," Antony promises, holding his hand out to Stephen. Hands clasped, he leads his lover back out through the house to the deck, where his parents are sitting comfortably, two bottles of beer clearly designating their spots. "There we go. All unpacked," he says, giving Stephen's hand one more squeeze before he takes his seat.

Stephen drops down into his seat, stretches out his legs out and reaches for the beer. "Thank you! I guess we can relax for a little while huh?" he grins over at his lover before he scanning the garden, the very garden they're going to get married in just a few days. "The garden's gorgeous," he observes softly. "It's going to be perfect,"

Olivia's thrilled by the compliment. "Thank you, it's one of my passions," she says, sipping at her wine. "We'll have chairs and an arbour wrapped in flowers and tables covered in white linen on the side for the food."

It sounds a little fancier than anything Antony had pictured, but given that he and Stephen haven't exactly been making any plans more specific than 'wedding in suits followed by barbecue in garden,' he's not going to deny his mum the pleasure. "It sounds lovely," he tells her, smiling at Stephen. Hoping his lover's okay with it too.

"Perfect," Stephen nods, repeating himself and turning his gaze on his soon to be mother-in-law he gifts her with one of his most heartfelt smiles. "What flowers did you choose? Will there be button holes for us both too?" He lets her see his excitement.

Olivia nods as Jack takes a long sip of his beer, resigned to nothing but wedding talk for the next bit.

"White roses, if that's okay with both of you," she says. "And the arbour will be wrapped in white burlap and natural greens and more roses as well as some LED lighting so we can have it lit up in the evening. Oh! And Antony said it was okay with you if the girls carried the rings and threw flower petals at you?"

Stephen laughs at that. "Yes, I'd love that, I was wondering if we could get them some games or such in for the garden - to keep them entertained after the ceremony."

"I'm sure Brenda and Julie would appreciate that," Jack says, glad for an opening to say something.

"Definitely," Olivia says, nodding. "You're an only child?"

Suddenly Antony's beer bottle is a lot more interesting than it was. Christ. He knew the bit of personal grilling was coming at some point.

"Yeah just me," Stephen nods, he takes a long drink of his beer and glances over at his partner. "My mom and dad are really looking forward to meeting you, I'm glad to say Antony passed their inspection," he teases, reaching out to nudge his lover's foot with his own. "He turned on the charm and bought my dad scotch, it was smoothly done."

"Two Jacks who love scotch?" Antony's dad smiles. "I think your dad and I'll get along well."

"You will. You'll love his parents," Antony says, nudging Stephen back under the table.

"Can I ask something?" Olivia says. "Without either of you taking offence."

Stephen's brow wrinkles for a moment, and he looks over at Antony before nodding at Olivia. "Yes, of course." After all he's about to join their family - she has the right to know him, to a point.

"Why not wait until you're ready to come out?" she asks as gently as possible. "Why do the wedding secretly now? I mean, you could be found out, and it's not like it'll change anything for you. You're already living together."

"My private life is exactly that, who I love, who I live with, who I marry, is no one else's business other than the people closest to us, the people that love us." He looks down at the bottle in his hand, giving himself a moment. "I may chose to be discreet about my sexuality to the world at large, but I will not let the need to do that dictate how I love. I love your son, I love him with every fibre of my being, and I see no reason to wait, to not commit myself to him and our life together."

Antony reaches for Stephen's hand, linking their fingers, every word ringing true for him as well.

Jack nods. "I can respect that," he says, surprised to find how good it feels to hear Stephen profess his love for Antony. "And we really are thrilled that you decided to do this here, and that your parents can join us."

Stephen gives Antony's hand a quick squeeze. "We're not settling doing it here, you know that, right? Even if I was out and we could do this anywhere in the world, I can't think of anywhere I'd rather marry Tony, and the guest list really wouldn't be much different. This is exactly what we want,"

Olivia can't stop smiling now. "I'm so glad to hear that," she says. "We're just so excited. I have to admit, we never really thought Antony would marry at all."

Antony snorts. "Thanks, Mum."

"You know what I mean," she says.

"Yeah, I can't imagine why anyone would want you," Stephen turns to tease his lover, his nose wrinkled up in amusement. "Hot, loaded, and of course there's the penthouse, it's worth it just for that." It's an ongoing joke between them.

"The penthouse?" Jack's eyes widen. "Since when have you had a penthouse?"

"Since several years," Antony says casually. "It's just my flat, which happens to be on the top floor."

Stephen's eyes widen at that and his gaze flits between his lover and his lover's parents. "Just your flat?" He snorts and shakes his head "It's a beautiful penthouse, 2 bed, 2 bath, with the most stunning views you can imagine. It most certainly isn't 'just a flat'." He wonders what the hell else his lover hasn't told his parents, and wonders if they should confer before he says anything else - maybe they have no idea how much money he makes.

Olivia sighs. "That's Antony for you," she says. "It's like prying teeth to get anything out of him. Or it was until he started going on about you." She smiles. "Now I know who to go to for information," she tells her son.

"Ahh but you see, I can be as secretive when it suits," Stephen drains his beer and sets the bottle on the table. "You'll have to make it worth my while," he winks at Olivia, sure he's headed for a butt spanking when he and Antony are alone again.

Antony shakes his head and looks at his dad. "I made a big mistake bringing the two of them together, didn't I?"

Jack just laughs. "Another beer?" he asks Antony and Stephen, already on his feet collecting the empties.

Antony nods. "Sure. When are Brenda and Julie getting here?"

Olivia glances at her watch. "They said they'd be over once the girls finished their swimming lessons. Around four? And then Jake and Sam will join us at dinner." She smiles at Stephen. "We were going to do some steaks on the barbecue, eat out here. Nothing too fancy for your first night. Is that alright?"

"Sounds perfect," Stephen nods. "Can I pass on the beer? One's enough, otherwise I'm going to be ready for a nap before too long, can I get a coffee?" He rolls to his feet. "Show me the way hm?"

Jack glances at Olivia, a second's reluctance to be sent off with his son's lover, but she waves him off and he gestures for Stephen to follow him. "Liv got me one of those Keurig machines as an early Christmas present. Have you used one before?"

Antony watches Stephen follow his dad for a moment before turning back to his mum. "Thanks for making all the arrangements," he says. "We really appreciate it."

"You're welcome. You know the girls barely let me be involved in their weddings so this has been a lot of fun," she says, taking another sip from her wineglass. "He's gorgeous."

"Thanks." And yeah, he might actually be blushing a bit.

"No, no I haven't, I tend to do instant, a crime I know, but I don't drink a lot of it and when I do, it's usually running out the door." Stephen follows Jack into the kitchen, like the rest of the house it's lovely, neat and tidy. "You have a beautiful home," he sets his hip against the counter top as Jack tosses the bottle in the recycling. "And I can't wait to see more of New Zealand, Tony tells me it's stunning."

"Thanks. The house is mostly Liv's doing," Jack says, showing Stephen where the K-cups are and how to operate the machine. It's strange to hear Antony called Tony, his son so resistant to a nickname most of his life, but as Jack well knows, the people you truly love get away with a lot. "It is. I can't imagine living anywhere else and I'm glad you're spending more time here after the wedding."

"We both love travelling, and Antony's been to so many places, he gets a kick out of revisiting them and seeing them through my eyes." He follows Jack's directions, making mental notes as they go along. "We're headed to Nepal and then Goa after Christmas, I think Nepal is the first place we've visited that's new to us both."

"Are you doing any trekking?" Jack asks, grateful to have an easy direction for their conversation.

"What about Marcus?" Olivia asks. "Did he come down on the same flight?"

Antony shakes his head. "He's coming down tomorrow," he says, when in truth Marcus is already here. Arrived the day before so he could set up the security detail for the rest of their trip.

"He's joining us for the rehearsal dinner?"

"Yeah." Antony's not entirely sure how wise that is, but everyone who's going to be at the wedding is going to be there, so Marcus is too. "He's looking forward to seeing you and Dad again."

"Yeah that's the plan, home for Christmas, then Nepal for the trekking and then some down time in Goa to rest and refresh before heading back and then I'm straight into a pretty heavy filming schedule for the second half of the season." It's not lost on Stephen that Jack is a little uneasy right now, he just hopes that'll pass as he gets to know him better.

"That sounds fantastic," Jack says, quite envious for a moment. "Antony said your show was renewed for another season?"

Stephen's grin is wide and easy. "Yeah, I'm so stoked, I love my job, I love the crew I work with, we're really proud of what we create, I'm a really lucky guy to have that, and to have this," he waves his hand back out to the garden where Antony is.

Jack smiles. "Being so busy with your work - it must make it easier on you when he's away," he says, grabbing two more bottles of beer from the fridge.

"Not really," Stephen shakes his head, sobering. "It's never easy when he's away, I just keep myself busier, put in more time at the gym, actually stick to my diet plan, and catch up with online fan stuff, but those are just distractions." He picks up his freshly brewed coffee. "We manage."

"Can I ask you something else?" Olivia says, knowing full well she's prying - and in areas that are really none of her business.

Antony knows that tone, that look. "You can ask..."

"Stephen's gay, but you're not. What happens when you decide you miss being with a woman?"

Fuck. Antony stares at his mum. He knew she was blunt, always has been, but this? "Same thing that happens when any married person believes in the vows they've made. You value what you have over a random moment of pleasure." Pausing a beat before he adds, "Besides which, apart from everything else, Stephen's hands-down the best sex I've ever had."

"Whoa!" Stephen's turning on his heel as he hears that last sentence wafting through the open patio doors, he waves Jack back up a step. "That," he cocks a head back toward where Antony and his mom are sat, "...is not a conversation we need to be a part of," he tries to assure Antony's dad even as his face flushes. _What the actual fuck Tony?_

Antony's head whips around when he hears Stephen behind him. Shit. "Sorry about that," he says. "My mum--"

"--asked an obnoxious question and he went out of his way to put me in my place," Olivia says, laughing, not at all embarrassed.

Jack, on the other hand, really didn't need to know that. He's doing his best already not to picture what his son and Stephen get up to in the bedroom. "I think I'll keep both of these," he jokes, cradling the beers against his chest as they step back out on the deck.

Stephen watches Jack retake his seat, he's still hanging back in the doorway, coffee in hand, feeling deeply uncomfortable and not a little irritated at his lover.

Fuck. "If you'll excuse us for a minute," Antony says, jumping up out of his seat and heading for Stephen, his lover pulled into the front room, away from his parents. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for you guys to hear us and my mum was poking around in things that are none of her business. I thought that would shut her down."

"Well next time tell her it's none of her damned business, don't go making statements like that!" Stephen snaps back. "Your Dad is clearly not at all sold on all this, and that shit? Yeah way to make me feel comfortable." He's pissed, and tired and on edge from being so fucking nervous about all this. "That's personal stuff Antony, we don't share that,"  
"I didn't give her any details," Antony says. "I wouldn't do that, but she was--" He breaks off, realizing he'll probably just make more of a mess trying to explain what his mum _did_ ask. "Never mind. You're right. I'm sorry."

"I don't even want to know, but if anyone else asks anything personal like that can you be more discreet?" He shakes his head and glances down at his coffee, wishing it was a fucking scotch after all. "We should go back."

Antony nods. "I will. Promise. Give me a kiss first?"

"You think you deserve one?" Stephen arches a brow. He's only half teasing, but he's teasing nonetheless.

Antony nods again, smiling. "Please?"

"M'gonna make you wait for your wedding gift now, as punishment," Stephen murmurs as he leans in to kiss his lover lightly on the mouth.

"Seriously?" Antony says, but he pulls Stephen back in for another kiss and murmurs, "I guess that's fair."

"Was teasing," Stephen whispers, licking delicately into Antony's mouth, his lover tasting faintly of beer.

"Mm. You're just lucky I'm still in the doghouse," Antony murmurs, chuckling, holding onto Stephen, reluctant to let go even though they should get back to his parents.

"C'mon," Stephen pulls away, "...later," he cautions, they're both too wound up to risk much more.

Antony nods but he reaches for Stephen's hand, linking their fingers as they walk back outside.

"Everything okay?" Olivia asks, ignoring the look she gets from her husband. "Stephen. I'm so sorry. I was poking around where I shouldn't have been. I won't do it again." And she means it. She has the answer she wanted from Antony and that's enough.

"We're good," Stephen nods, setting his mug down and retaking his seat. "I get you have questions about me, about us, but let's keep it all within respectable boundaries for everyone's comfort hmm?" He smiles at her and then cocks a brow at his lover. "Goes for you too," he adds playfully.

"I know. I promise," Antony says, crossing his heart. "You know me. I'm usually a lot more close-mouthed."

Which has to be the understatement of the year, Jack thinks to himself, downing half his beer and pushing the other towards Antony. "So, Stephen..." he says, hoping to get them all back on track. "We were talking about Arrow inside. Is it something you want to keep doing as long as there's an audience or are you interested in movies, directing...?"

"I'm happy to keep doing 'Arrow' for as long as the fans want to watch it, I've got an offer to do some voice work for some video games and such which feature the character, I think that might be fun. Movies? I think it'd be short sighted of me to not consider that if a good offer was put in front of me, but I'm not actively chasing anything right now. This last year's been pretty intense with us finally getting some serious recognition for the show, and of course meeting Tony, moving in, this..." he shrugs. "I'm really content with my life - ambition is a good thing in healthy doses."

Jack smiles. "And what about you?" he asks his son. "Still travelling as much as ever?"

Antony nods. "But the company's doing really well and I've talked about maybe taking more of a desk job. Leaving more of the international work to Marcus and this guy we hired a while back. Or training our recruits. Most of them come to us with their own skills but we like to keep them at the very top of their game."

Stephen's gaze cuts to his lover in surprise, the concept of Antony doing 'less' has been one he's bandied around for a while now, but Stephen had assumed that after the fuck up job Antony had put the idea on the back burner. It's felt very on again/off again so he'd resigned himself to his lover's usual schedule.

"Are you doing that for sure," Olivia asks, watching Stephen's reaction. "Or are you still deciding?"

Antony looks at Stephen. "I'm definitely going to be cutting back. I'm just not sure how much yet or how my actual job'll change."

Blowing out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding, Stephen leans in, presses a kiss to his lover's mouth. "That's the best wedding gift you could have given me," he murmurs.

"Does that mean you don't want the real one?" Antony teases.

Stephen laughs at that, pulling back, and he opens his mouth to point out that presents are in his contract - until he snaps it shut again and winks at his lover. "Such a joker!"

The kiss doesn't bother Jack nearly as much as he thought it might and the banter between the two men only makes him smile. "Speaking of presents..." he says, nodding at Olivia.

"Oh, yes! This seems like a good time as any," she says, disappearing into the house for a moment.

"Don't worry," Jack says. "This isn't your wedding present, but we know Antony and we thought you might like to have this."

"Here we go," Olivia announces, coming back. She hands Stephen a thin lap-sized square wrapped in glossy white paper with a big blue bow. "This is for you."

Stephen looks up quizzically at Olivia, "Thank you," he murmurs, before carefully pulling apart the bow and removing the paper. What he finds is a photo album, and his expression turns mischievous. "Please be what I think you are," the words are playful and he casts his lover a grin as he opens the book. Sure enough it's full of pictures of Antony, right from babyhood through childhood and beyond. "Oh my god! Look at you there," he leans in to peer at a shot of his lover as a toddler. "You were blonde!"

Antony's stunned by the gift but he can see how much Stephen likes it and he laughs. "Yeah, and my sisters stayed blonde. Like my mum."

Falling silent as he works his way through the pages, he stops when he gets to some of Antony in uniform. His finger tip traces around the edge of one particular shot. And it hits him how little he still knows about Antony's past, how little has been shared by his lover, the man he's about to marry. A frown mars his forehead as he quickly flips over another page to find a shot of Antony holding a baby - one of his nieces he assumes.

"That's Brenda's oldest, Charlotte," Antony says. "She's eight now."

"It's a good look on you," Stephen murmurs, glancing up to meet his lover's gaze for a moment.

"I'm a good uncle," Antony says with a shrug and a smile. "At least I try to be."

Stephen works his way through the book, the last pages being photos of the two of them, taken in Italy, and once down on the beach in LA. He smiles up at Olivia. "You have no idea how much this means to me," he reaches out to take her hand and squeeze it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she says, beaming at him. "It was so much fun to put together and I know Antony doesn't have any of the older photos."

"I can see them whenever I'm here," Antony points out. "If I'd taken any of them, they'd be lost by now and you wouldn't have had them to put in the book." Until he'd taken the penthouse, his lifestyle had been so nomadic, his prized possessions mostly stored, the rest lost to attrition as he'd moved from one place to the next.

"But this is a part of you I've not seen before," Stephen smooths his hand over the cover of the book. "This is amazing," he shakes his head and glances down at the book to give himself a moment.

Antony watches Stephen, thrilled to see him made so happy by something so simple. "Thanks," he says to his parents, nodding at them both. "Stephen's right. It's really amazing."

Jack grins. "And when Brenda and Julie get here later, you can get all the personal stories of what he was like as a kid," he says.

"Great," Antony snorts.

"Speaking of which, do you guys mind if I duck out for half an hour, go and freshen up properly before I meet everyone else?" He checks with Antony first, naturally seeking permission.

"Go ahead," Antony says, his parents chorusing, "of course nots" behind him. His face lifted for another kiss before Stephen goes. "Holler when you're out of the shower and I'll grab one too."

Stephen takes the book with him, sets it on the bed and slowly strips off, making for the bathroom to enjoy a moment to himself and the chance to wash off travelling from his skin. He's surprised at his reaction to the gift, at how emotional it had made him to take a glimpse into Antony's past - but he puts it down to tiredness, excitement and of course the emotionally charged few weeks they've had.

Antony passes on the offer of a third beer, a little stunned as always at how much his parents drink _and_ how well they hold it. They didn't drink like this when he was a kid, or at least not until he and his sisters had gone to bed but by the time he was a teenager he'd been painstakingly aware of the number of empties in the garbage he lugged out to the curb each week. They've never tried to hide it though, never let it affect their moods in a bad way, never driven like this as far as he knows, so it's not his place to say anything.

As he knew they would, they love Stephen. Even his dad seems good with it, with them, with the kissing and touching. Even so... "Is it really weird for you?" he asks. "Seeing us together?"

Jack blows out a breath, glancing at Olivia before answering. "Not as weird as I thought it might be. You look good together, you're obviously in love..." he shrugs. "I'll get more and more used to it."

They talk a bit about his work, Stephen's work, the latest neighbourhood gossip. Most of his parents' friends have long-since divorced and watching his mum and dad smile at each other, their easy companionship, the way they just _fit_ , he feels incredibly lucky. In so many ways.


End file.
